Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area

Abstract We used the mean air temperature and particulate matter concentration at northern and southern rural stations as rural background values to calculate the urban heat island intensity (UHII) and urban pollution island intensity (UPII) for Beijing. The correlation between UHII and UPII is sign...

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Main Authors: Ju Li, Mingyu Zhou, Donald H. Lenschow, Zhigang Cheng, Youjun Dou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2020-06-01
Series:Earth and Space Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001100
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author Ju Li
Mingyu Zhou
Donald H. Lenschow
Zhigang Cheng
Youjun Dou
author_facet Ju Li
Mingyu Zhou
Donald H. Lenschow
Zhigang Cheng
Youjun Dou
author_sort Ju Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We used the mean air temperature and particulate matter concentration at northern and southern rural stations as rural background values to calculate the urban heat island intensity (UHII) and urban pollution island intensity (UPII) for Beijing. The correlation between UHII and UPII is significantly negative in winter during the daytime and nighttime when selecting southern rural background stations but significantly positive in spring during both daytime and nighttime and in winter during the nighttime when selecting northern rural background stations. The downward longwave radiation (DLR) is highly correlated with surface air temperature and water vapor, and with particulate matter concentration in winter and summer. Water vapor also has a high correlation with particulate matter concentration in winter and summer. Winter data were used to investigate the particulate matter contribution to DLR to minimize the effect of humidity. The results indicate that in winter the urban area DLR and net radiation increased more than rural area under polluted conditions compared with clean conditions, which may lead to an increase in UHII. But in other seasons with more moisture, the aerosol effect on DLR is smaller than water vapor. Our results imply that the contribution of air pollutants to DLR had been overestimated in recent studies without removing water vapor effects on the longwave radiation. We suggest that the interaction between the urban heat island and the urban pollution island and related mitigation strategies needs to be carefully studied in the future by considering different climate zone and seasons.
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spelling doaj.art-449d85d298ea434e8919b11d99253b9b2022-12-21T20:36:03ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842020-06-0176n/an/a10.1029/2020EA001100Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing AreaJu Li0Mingyu Zhou1Donald H. Lenschow2Zhigang Cheng3Youjun Dou4Institute of Urban Meteorology Beijing ChinaNational Marine Environment Forecast Center Beijing ChinaNational Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USAInstitute of Urban Meteorology Beijing ChinaInstitute of Urban Meteorology Beijing ChinaAbstract We used the mean air temperature and particulate matter concentration at northern and southern rural stations as rural background values to calculate the urban heat island intensity (UHII) and urban pollution island intensity (UPII) for Beijing. The correlation between UHII and UPII is significantly negative in winter during the daytime and nighttime when selecting southern rural background stations but significantly positive in spring during both daytime and nighttime and in winter during the nighttime when selecting northern rural background stations. The downward longwave radiation (DLR) is highly correlated with surface air temperature and water vapor, and with particulate matter concentration in winter and summer. Water vapor also has a high correlation with particulate matter concentration in winter and summer. Winter data were used to investigate the particulate matter contribution to DLR to minimize the effect of humidity. The results indicate that in winter the urban area DLR and net radiation increased more than rural area under polluted conditions compared with clean conditions, which may lead to an increase in UHII. But in other seasons with more moisture, the aerosol effect on DLR is smaller than water vapor. Our results imply that the contribution of air pollutants to DLR had been overestimated in recent studies without removing water vapor effects on the longwave radiation. We suggest that the interaction between the urban heat island and the urban pollution island and related mitigation strategies needs to be carefully studied in the future by considering different climate zone and seasons.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001100downward longwave radiationurban heat islandurban pollution islandwater vapor
spellingShingle Ju Li
Mingyu Zhou
Donald H. Lenschow
Zhigang Cheng
Youjun Dou
Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
Earth and Space Science
downward longwave radiation
urban heat island
urban pollution island
water vapor
title Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
title_full Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
title_fullStr Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
title_full_unstemmed Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
title_short Observed Relationships Between the Urban Heat Island, Urban Pollution Island, and Downward Longwave Radiation in the Beijing Area
title_sort observed relationships between the urban heat island urban pollution island and downward longwave radiation in the beijing area
topic downward longwave radiation
urban heat island
urban pollution island
water vapor
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001100
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